A student in Portland, Oregon, has been designated ‘genderless’ by a judge, making for a first in the United States.
Patrick Abbatiello walked into Multnomah County Judge Amy Holmes Hehn’s court as a boy, but walked out without a gender, or ‘agender.’
The Oregon judge, who last year ruled that a transgender person can legally change their sex to 'non-binary' gave the OK for Patch to be genderless.
People who are agender see themselves as neither a man nor a woman and have no gender identity.
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The 27-year-old student was also granted a name change to the single name of ‘Patch.’
'It's not that I decided I was genderless — that's just how it is,' Patch said. 'I never felt like I fell within any part of the gender spectrum. None of the binary options, nothing in-between.
'I don't consider myself non-binary because that's an umbrella term for anything that isn't binary, which is gender identity.'
(Read more from Daily Mail)
The AP Style Book, considered the bible of writing guides for journalists, gives updated guidance on writing about genderless people.
In a presentation to journalists this weekend, the curators of AP's style guide urged writers to start thinking of "gender" and "sex" as separate concepts, noting that while gender is "a person's social identity," "sex" refers to their "biological characteristics."
You can only be one sex, it turns out, but you can be quite a few genders.
"Not all people fall under one of two categories for sex or gender, according to leading medical organizations, so avoid references to both, either or opposite sexes or genders as a way to encompass all people," the update noted. "When needed for clarity or in certain stories about scientific studies, alternatives include men and women, boys and girls, males and females."
(Read more at Heatstreet)
First Genderless Person Becomes Legalized https://t.co/cfVzenjhYg pic.twitter.com/odmK3uvLtW
— 🇺🇸 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 💦 (@eIguanac0) March 27, 2017
(app users can see tweet here)
(app users can see tweet here)